#why aren't we saying anything????? hello????? cassie

[monty-glasses-roxy]

I still think it's hilarious that in Meteors AU, literally every single person knows about the haunted pile of robot spaghetti that is Tangle, except for Roxy. Who has been unknowingly visiting them and staring them right in the face, for literally years now. She has no idea. Fucking Cassie's dad Eddie knows about them. The Sewerhell guys know about them. The fucking horsies probably know about them. DJ, who is too big to get anywhere fucking near Tangle knows about them.

But not Roxy. It's a mystery to everyone. Half of them think it's a denial thing or willful ignorance. They're completely wrong she genuinely has no idea they're there. Tangle has willfully made their presence known to so many of the others and have tried a hundred times over with Roxy but she just. Has no fucking clue.

If it's haunted, Roxy doesn't know it exists. That's just how it is. She can see Glitchtrap pulling puppet strings on Vanessa and the others, but she can't see the spooky spirit spaghetti. This isn't even just Meteors. She just has no idea. The guy is like glass that gives her a headache, she can't see them but wow does her head hurt after staring into the darkness outside the pizzeria for a minute. Strange. Weird, even. Bizarre, perhaps.

Why does everyone keep freaking out at the shadows?? There's nothing even there. If there was? She'd know! Even in Meteors with her almost complete blindness in the dark, she'd know! Roxy knows everything that's down here and nothing gets past her without her knowing! They must be seeing things smh smh such overreactors smh

[quiet-girl-short-stories]

A Little Jealousy

A/n: every time I see this title, I think of Monsta X 🤙

There was always a little part of Cassie that felt protective of the men who surrounded her daily life. From simply wanting to take care of them if they ever fell ill, to not liking it when anyone even so much as looked in their direction. There was one of them in particular who she didn't like the attention he would get on a regular basis, and while yes he was essentially famous, Cassie didn't think that meant anything.

"Who is this girl?" Cassie said as she scrolled through multiple pictures of Amai with another female.

Cassie didn't recognize her from anything, not another girl group, not a childhood friend, not someone at the company, not even a manager. Cassie was slightly filled with jealousy thinking that maybe Amai had moved on from trying to date her and was with this girl. She felt her face hot and thought about why she should even be upset with this.

"I-I mean, we're not dating and I..." She trailed off for a second. "Well I am single! I can get upset if someone who I have the chance of dating is with some other girl... it would be different if it was a guy who was all over Amai, but..." She grunted and locked her phone before sitting in her chair looking out the window.

What should I do?

Cassie didn't know what to do, she didn't even know if she could fully call this jealousy or not.

She thought for too long on it and found herself becoming disinterested in everything. She didn't want to write, she didn't want to eat, she didn't even want to move her hand to put her desktop to sleep. She rolled her eyes thinking about Amai.

"I mean, he can date if he wants to, but why put me through all of that for so long then?" Cassie wondered if she was taking this too seriously. Right as she was thinking that her phone went off and without thinking she answered it.

"Hello?" Her voice came out angry.

"Woah, what's wrong with you?" She heard Amai say.

"Nothing." She simply stated.

"Well okay... but I'm near your place right now and I figured maybe we could hang out for a bit."

The hell? "Aren't you busy?"

"No, I finished practice a while ago, but we still have something to film later tonight. We just got a little bit of time off."

Cassie pressed her lips together. She knew saying no to him would only cause some kind of problem down the line, especially because Amai could very easily find out she wasn't doing anything from Ankara.

"Alright, where are you at?"

"By that cafe near your place."

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit." She hung the phone up right after saying that and got up to get dressed appropriately.

As Cassie was getting ready to leave when it suddenly began to rain. The universal sign of something being wrong... Cassie sighed and got an umbrella and headed out to meet with Amai.

When arrived at the cafe, she saw the dyed gray hair of Amai mixing with the slight mist of the rain, she didn't bother to call for him, but as she got closer she noticed he was talking to someone. She stopped trying to see who it was and Cassie only felt her blood boil.

He's really with her? Does that mean-

Cassie's mind went all over the place and her thoughts about the rain didn't help. However, she went up to Amai and finally got to him, the girl looked at Cassie causing Amai to turn around as well.

"Hey, sorry to call you out like this." Cassie said nothing. "But, she has to go so." The girl nodded and gave a smile to Cassie.

"Too bad we can't talk a bit more." Cassie gave her a fake smile. "Maybe some other time?" The girl suggested. Cassie nodded without a word. "Alright then, you two have fun!" She said teasingly.

Amai sighed and gave Cassie his full attention.

"She's really too much with that... but good thing I was here or I would've got caught in the rain. Maybe we can share an umbrella." Amai said with a chuckle, Cassie made no effort to talk. Amai gave her a look. "Okay seriously, I knew something was wrong over the phone. What's up?" He said.

She finally said, "it's nothing serious."

"Well it's making you upset, so it must be serious."

Cassie looked off but then spoke suddenly. "It's nothing... but I was wondering who that girl was?"

"Oh, it might be bad for me to tell you this, but you don't even go on social media." Amai got close and whispered. "She's gonna be a host for this new show that's planned to air in the winter. Our group is planning to be the first guests!"

Cassie felt a bit happy about that. "So, you know her from work?" Amai nodded. Cassie released a small sigh.

"Wait a second, you've never asked me about anyone else I've been with before."

"Well, it's just because I saw a few pictures of you two together."

"So? I take pictures with my bodyguards sometimes. You know that's just how I am." She looked off. "No way." She looked back to Amai, "Are you jealous?" Cassie stared without saying anything. "Oh shit you are!"

"I-I'm not!" She finally said.

"I doubt it. Look at how red your face is!"

Without even being able to see her own face, Cassie knew she was blushing. Amai smiled at her and stepped a bit closer. The rain began to slow and Cassie could clearly hear him.

"You don't even need to be jealous. You know I only have eyes for you."

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 14.18: “Absence”

THEN: I am a Winchester! Which means I do awful and wonderful things! Like saving Sam (Saaaaaammmm!!!) and torturing Nick and doing Something Bad to Mary! And possibly losing my soul! Whoopsie!

NOW: Sam and Dean are just getting back to the bunker after the events of the previous episode. I assume they've given Donatello a ride home (which, as we've established, is x hours away), but maybe they stuck him in a cab like they did with Claire that one time. Maybe they found a car for him back at the abandoned warehouse. Sam drops his bag on the map table and they both start calling for Jack and Mary, but aren't too terribly concerned about them not being there. "They probably just stopped for a bite on the way back," Dean hypothesizes, when they settle in the library with a couple of beers. Um. Jack zapped them to Nick's cabin, didn't he? So what is on the "way back?" Are they going to zap to a McDonald's first? What is important is that Sam is still wearing that orange plaid shirt. And they're both pretty unperturbed, even for them, about what just happened.

Here's to another miraculous Sam Winchester survival. Gotta say, man, if Jack hadn't have healed you... you know, lately, it feels like we'd be up the creek without that kid. I mean, first he takes care of Michael, and then Nick...

I know, and he even got the blood out of my new orange plaid shirt, which means I can keep wearing it for this entire episode.

Yeah, I been meaning to talk to you about that. You've been adding a lot of orange to your wardrobe lately.

Just this shirt and that one jacket.

It's more orange than anyone needs. Sure, it fits you great, but so does that red and black plaid. Why don't you wear that shirt some more? Or that solid black shirt you have?

Sorry, but you know I'm a Texas fan. You're just going to have to put up with the orange.

At least I think that's how the conversation went. I could be remembering wrong.

I'm just saying. It's a lot of orange.

The point is, Dean appreciates Jack and recognizes everything he's done for them. Dean pulls out his phone to call her and they hear a buzzing, which is her phone, on the map table, right to Sam's bag. Sam, I know you're recently back from the dead (or near-dead) but it does seem like you would have noticed the phone there. (Also, how close is the library to war room? This makes it look like the map table is practically in the library.) Her keys are next to her her phone, and it's not until this very moment that I realize they didn't know she and Jack zapped to the cabin - they must have thought she and Jack drove there. Because obviously they didn't have a lot of conversation about it. Even though they had a long drive back and it does seem like Sam would have called his mother and asked how their end went.

Anyway. They're perturbed now. Sam tries to call Jack and we see him, staring, ignoring Sam's call.

Title card! (ha ha, I forgot we were still in the Now.)

The guys are making phone calls to all their contacts, and Sam reports Rowena has a spell that might be able to track Jack down. Oh, I love that Sam calls Rowena for help. LOVE IT. Dean gets a call from Cas and gives him the scoop. "Were they together?" Cas asks. “Alone?" Cas looks more Cassy than usual, and then tells Dean about the snake. "I don't think Jack is well, Dean," he says. Dean hangs up on him, which seems kind of rude, but neither he nor Sam act like the snake story is particularly significant. Then Sam gets the brilliant idea to track Jack's phone. (Sidebar: Should Cas be able to use his angelic powers to locate Mary and/or Jack? Discuss.)

Sam fires up the phone tracking website and expositions that they should be able to track him as long as his phone has power. (Listen, guys. You need Find My Friends. Best parent app EVER. It locates him in Nepal, but then he immediately appears in Peru. "Jack's flying," Sam says.

Eventually Jack tires of Paris and Lima and Madagascar and and flops to the ground back at the Cabin of Death, next to Nick's stolen truck. He pulls out his phone, revealing a low battery (so much for that plan, Sam) and several missed calls and messages from the rest of TFW 2.0. He has some flashbacks to happier times with Mary, and then in the background we notice someone standing on the porch of the cabin. They're wearing jeans, and their face is hidden in the darkness, and I'm open to the possibility that Jack actually zapped Mary somewhere instead of killing her (and according to the 14.17 poll, some of you are also open to this), so for a second I think it's going to be Mary standing there. But no.

On the TV:

Nick?

Hmm. Guess again. Hello, son.

At my house:

OH FUCK.

?

Sorry. I'm just really tired of him.

So, after Jack left to do more important things (Saaaaaaammmmmm!!!!), Lucifer made it back into the world? I mean, this is awful, but it would mean Lucifer is the Big Bad instead of Nick, so... not ALL awful? But it's not Lucifer either - "I'm your subconscious, or whatever," he says. Oh god, it's Hallucifer. Jack has his own version of Hallucifer, JUST LIKE HIS PRIMARY DAD. He's here to help, allegedly, though he doesn't seem all that helpful. "Buddy, you killed Mary Winchester. You cannot come back from that, and you know it." Well. I guess she's officially dead, then. Or is she? Where's the body? I mean, Hallucifer is just Jack's subconscious. So if Jack thinks he killed Mary, so does Hallucifer. That doesn't make it so. Jack tells Hallucifer that it was an accident, and he's all, sure, tell Sam and Dean that, I'm sure they'll understand. (It's funny because it's not true!)

Cut to the Winchesters, driving through the night. Sam expositions that Cas will meet them at the cabin (how do any of them even know where this cabin is?) and speculates that maybe Lucifer is behind whatever happened, not Jack. And maybe Jack thought he was being kind when he killed the snake. Because Sam is grasping for anything that exonerates his son (sob!). But Dean's not accepting it and doesn't want to talk about it. Then Sam's laptop or tablet or whatever he's using beeps with notification that Jack's signal has been lost. Uh oh. (So I guess that's how they found the cabin?) Oooh, yes, we actually get confirmation that it's in Longton "KA" (which doesn't exist and I suspect is supposed to be KS, SERIOUSLY, GUYS).

Longton KANSAS is 4.5 hours from Lebanon. In case anyone but me is curious.

When they get to the cabin, there's no sign of Jack or Mary or Hallucifer. Just the stolen truck. Sam goes inside and Dean looks outside and oh, who's going to be the one to find the body? First I'm sure it's going to be Sam, because there's a lumpy pile of blankets on the bed, but it must just be blankets, and Sam doesn't even look under them. He does find a body, but it's Nick, not Mary. And then I'm sure it's going to be Dean, because he comes across something disturbing outside and ignores Sam's calls. But what he found is... well, it's hard to see what it is in the dark. Apparently it's a blast zone. A big one.

Cas is sitting in his truck somewhere, having his own warm and fuzzy Mary flashback where she eats a candy bar after a hunt without washing her hands and refuses to let Cas heal her because she's still a little bit afraid of him. He tells her that, no matter what other things there are to deal with, Sam and Dean are glad she's here. "Finally they don't have to be so alone." Wow, that's a dumb thing to say. Mary agrees with me and says "Castiel, they were never alone. And if they were, me being here wouldn't fix that, since I'm always off doing other things." That's how I remember it, anyway. Reverie over, Cas gets out of the truck to face the music - he's at the Cabin of Death.

Inside, Sam is covering Nick's body. He and Dean have some concerned conversation about whether Nick deserved whatever Jack did to him and conclude that Jack must have made it as painful as possible or otherwise killed him in some inappropriate way. And there are very good, valid reasons for them to come to this conclusion. I mean, I can't think of them right now, after watching the episode twice and ruminating for several hours, but I'm sure something will come to me very soon. Let me just go check my Tumblr feed again. I bet they're there.

(Seriously. Nick looks like he was burned out by an angel. That's all.)

They're surprised when Cas walks in, because they didn't hear his giant truck or see his headlights in the dark Cabin of Death. They tell him they haven't found anything except the blast site that looks like something "angelic, but bigger." Dean theorizes that it could have been Lucifer, but Sam points out that Jack said he took care of Lucifer, and I'm not sure why they've reversed their positions. Because in the car, Sam was the one who thought it might have been Lucifer. Script mix-up? Someone brought Jensen the wrong pages? Anyway. Dean says "If he did something to her, if she is... then you're dead to me." Pointing as Cas, because Cas knew something was wrong with Jack. Well, that hardly seems fair. When he first told you the snake story, Dean, you didn't think it meant anything at all. But NOW, all of a sudden, it was some ironclad harbinger of doom?

"I was scared. I believed in Jack for so long. I believed that he was good. I knew that he would be good for the world. He was good for us. My faith in him, it never wavered, and then I saw what he did. It wasn't malice, it wasn't evil, it was like Jack saw a problem and he solved it, with that snake. What he did wasn't bad. It was the absence of good, and I saw that in him. But we were a family and I didn't want to lose that..."

And I'm going to stop here, because this is the most important part of Cas's speech. This is the core issue. Jack's not bad, he just might not be good either. He thought he was doing the right thing. And he's family. Is any of this familiar, Dean? Any of it at all? Cas also says that he wanted to "fix it" on his own, so he left and didn't tell anyone. Neither brother asks how he thought he was going to fix it, but I guess they'll get the story of the failed faux Samulet someday. Right now we just have Sam looking sad and guilty and Dean looking angry and guilty but mostly angry.

Sam's phone rings - it's Rowena. She says she was unable to scry Jack because "his energy is too unstable; it's like looking at the sun." And as for Mary? "I don't know what happened, or where she is, but I can tell you with certainty - Mary Winchester is no longer on this earth." At this point, I'm still ready to accept that she's been zapped to a different dimension. I mean, there's no body. But TFW accepts it as her being dead, and Dean starts throwing furniture and Sam is despondent and flinchy (and hoo boy, I love that combination.)

So what do we do?

What do we always do when we lose one of our own?

Bad things. Very bad things. He declares "we fight to bring them back." And they will call on Rowena, because "she's got the Book of the Damned; she's resurrected herself more times than we can count." (Not to quibble, but we've only seen her resurrected twice. You yourself have been resurrected more times than that, Dean.) He orders Cas to go to Heaven and find Mary, and orders Sam to tell Rowena they're on their way. Mmmm, angry bossy Dean. I like that combination too.

Another thing I like about this scene is that it's one of those times when Sam turns into the little brother. When he looks at Dean and asks "what do we do," because that's how this works.

So much to like.

We go to Rowena's place, and if you're wondering where she lives and how far it is from the Cabin of Death, you're not alone. She's working away on her spell, though it sounds like she says cumin so maybe it's actually a chili recipe, when someone bangs on her door. "That was fast," she says. But when she answers the door... oh god, it's Jack, and for the first time in this episode I actually feel some concern. DO NOT HURT HER, JACK. (Rowena, I apologize for not appreciating you when you first arrived on the scene. I adore you now and you must remain.)

She pretends she doesn't know what happened, asking if he's well and telling him 2/3 of his dads are looking for him. He admits he accidentally killed Mary by just thinking it for a second and oh, imagine how horrible that would be, if the awful things that popped into your mind for one second actually came to pass. Or maybe I have more intrusive thoughts than y'all do. Anyway. "I need to undo it," he says. "You need to help me undo it." She explains that the magic she normally uses has to be in place before you die, so he suggest the book (I adore the way she says book) and she tells him about the spell. It requires "enormous power" but simple ingredients that could probably be found in the bunker.

Someone bangs on the door again - it's Dean. Jack accuses her of stalling, but they only talked for like 90 seconds, so, okay. She asks him to talk to his "kin," but he grabs her arm. Sam kicks the door in (with hair in his face and yes it is hot) but it's too late - Jack has zapped her out.

Sadly, I have not found a gif yet, so this will have to do.

Cut to Cas at the Stairway to Heaven, calling for Naomi. No one responds.

Jack and Rowena appear in the bunker, and he pulls her along, but happens to notice some gouges in the floor. And now we get another flashback. Mary is trying to teach him how to handle a knife, and he keeps dropping it on the floor. She's all sweet and supportive and blah blah blah, and Jack says Dean will kill him for gouging the floor when they get him back, so this must be during the Michael!Dean period. Mary pulls the table over to cover the damaged floor, but who is that in the background? It's bearded Sam! Oh, long lost Beard of Despair! How I've missed you! (Is it fake? Is it real? Was this a deleted scene? Or did they plan for what was coming, and film this before he shaved it off? Does Jared just grow a beard that quickly? I DO NOT CARE.)

He feels bad for not being there for Jack while he was busy looking for Dean, and then he apologizes for complaining to her. But she's relieved not to be the only one with "parental guilt." Because they went through so much without her, and then things were "complicated" when she got back. "I'm just saying, parenting is always a struggle. You always feel like you're failing, but then you look at them, and somehow, they're amazing. Somehow, they're literally the bravest, kindest, most heroic men on the planet." Well, this is true. Very true. And I'm glad she's giving Sam the praise and validation he SO deserves but come on, Mary. What do you know about parenting? You did it for four years. When did you feel like you were failing six-month-old Sam?

YES, MARY, I WANT TO TOUCH IT TOO

Fade to Sam. Interesting that Jack's warm fuzzy flashback turned into Sam's. (It's because Sam is his primary dad! It is known!) They're still at Rowena's, and Dean is still ranting about Cas not telling them about the snake. EVEN THOUGH DEAN DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE SNAKE WHEN CAS FIRST TOLD HIM.

Cas, Cas should have told us. As soon as he saw Jack going Dahmer on his stupid snake, he should have told us.

Dean, it wasn't just Cas. We knew Jack was dangerous. We always knew. Long before he killed Michael. You more than anyone. I mean, from the very beginning you knew. But, you know, we fell for him, because he had a good heart and a good soul. And then, he didn't. And that's on me, too, by the way. I mean, I'm the one that made the call to bring him back. He didn't ask for that. I decided for him. And you warned me.

Oooh. Sam. No. Because:

1) Dean didn't KNOW from the very beginning. He was, in fact, WRONG at the very beginning, when he thought Jack was evil. Jack was not evil, and you insisted on giving him a chance, and YOU WERE RIGHT. Jack becoming "evil" in the future (and he's not even EVIL, he's just naive and untrained and too powerful for his own good) wasn't anything Dean predicted.

b) Dean didn't exactly fight very hard to stop Sam from bringing Jack back. Seems like most of his concern was that it wouldn't work, not that it was a bad idea in and of itself.

Then Sam says "You know, after Maggie and the other hunters died, I just left. I just dumped Jack on Cas and left." Well, I'm not a big fan of "Maggie and the other hunters" (reminds me too much of "Sting and the Police" and I don't know why Maggie - or Sting - were so damn special that they deserved to be singled out as the only ones in the group with a name), but I also don't have any memory of Sam leaving after Michael killed the other hunters. And when he did, he wanted to take Jack, but Dean wouldn't let him. But Sam says he knew something was going to happen and he's wallowing in guilt. Dean admits that he also knew there was a risk, because of what Donatello told him about not being sure. Well, thank Chuck for that. I'm glad Dean's not letting Sam shoulder all the blame for something that wasn't his fault.

Angry Dean and sad Sam, two things I adore.

Back at the bunker, Rowena is gathering her cumin and other ingredients. Jack's getting impatient, and she tells him that she could have fought him, but she didn't. "Because you want the same thing the boys want. That I want." This is a beautiful, beautiful moment, with Rowena wanting what "the boys" want, but it's interrupted by Hallucifer, who doesn't even know why Jack is doing any of this. "To ease your guilt? But you don't have guilt any more, do you, Jack? Admit it. You don't feel anything any more." Well. Everything Hallucifer says comes from Jack's head, so what do we think about this? Does Jack really not feel anything any more? I disagree. If he didn't feel anything, if he didn't want Mary back, if he didn't care about forgiveness, why would he even bother? So I think our boy does feel something. Rowena is disturbed by Jack talking to his hallucination, but she carries on and finishes the spell. They have everything they need except the body. Oh.

Stairway to Heaven. Cas isn't going anywhere until Naomi talks to him. Someone finally shows up, but it's Duma.

Where's Naomi?

Well, I'd tell you it's none of your business, but you already know it's none of your business. Naomi just gets paid more than I do, and we've already got all the regular guest stars in this episode, so we had to cut some corners.

At least that's how I remember it. She tells him Mary is at peace in "a special Heaven" and "is complete" and he should just let her be.

Jack takes Rowena to the Cabin of Death, but Mary's body isn't there. He thinks she should be able to complete the spell anyway, but she says she can't. He wants to do it himself, but she says he's in no shape, and "disposition affects execution." She tells him that whatever he brings back won't be Mary, and refuses to help him and OH I'M CONCERNED FOR HER AND HE REACHES OUT AND PUSHES HER and she just ends up being shoved back into her apartment. WHEW. She calls Sam and tells him what Jack is doing, and that it won't work because there's no body, and Jack has snapped and they need to stop him." Necromancy is a delicate art, unpredictable under ideal circumstances. In his state, I fear your boy will bring back something terrible." WELL, THAT'S ENCOURAGING. (Also, Rowena is hilarious in this scene.)

Jack sits in the corpse-less blast zone and performs the ritual and a huge swirling purple cloud appears overhead and I'm thinking, is this our out? Is Jack going to summon something awful, something that can be the Big Bad so he doesn't have to? Please? He notices the Impala nearby, and uses his powers to stop it in its tracks. Luckily it's just right outside the cabin. Sam and Dean run toward him, and we see him looking down at whatever he has summoned, but he doesn't look happy about it. Neither do the Winchesters. "It didn't work," he says, before zapping out.

Oh, the thing he brought back is Mary. Well, Mary's corpse, apparently. Dean holds her and finds her still dead, and he's sad and we get his flashback, which is just Mary leaning on him, asleep in the car, and then Sam comes and holds Dean as he holds Mary and everybody's sad, we're all sad, so terribly terribly sad and we get a crane shot and it's a very lovely scene but I can't help thinking um, correct me if I'm wrong, but we do have that missing piece now, right?

Jack ends up at some industrial kind of place, where Hallucifer tells him there's no going back. "Cas, Sam, Dean, they're never going to trust you again. And you know what that means. You can never trust THEM." And oh, this is Jack's head telling him that. Poor baby.

Bunker. Sam has his box of treasures and he's looking at the few remaining family photos. He looks up, full of hope, when Cas comes in. But Cas tells him Mary is in Heaven and at peace. Dean shows up in time to hear this, and asks if he's just going to take Duma's word for it, because she's a known liar and also might possibly be that dude from The Empty. He says no, he actually saw Mary's Heaven, and we see her door with the dates 1954-1983 and 2016-2019 on it, which of course begs the question of what Sam and Dean's doors are going to look like.

He says he saw her with John (way to bury the lede, Cas), and they're full of joy. But was it really John? Haven't we established that most people are in their own individual Heavens, and if she has a John, it's just an avatar? I mean, John's name wasn't on the door. And I expect Dean, at least, to insist they try to bring her back anyway. But Sam says Rowena told him that what Jack brought back was just an empty replica, "incapable of holding life." (I mean, I feel like that sometimes.) "So what are we supposed to do now?" he asks. And again, Sam is looking to Dean to lead them through this, and yet he's got to know what they SHOULD do. He's got to be thinking of Mary, safe and happy in Heaven, and of ripping someone (anyone, no one in particular, right Sam?) away from that and forcing them to continue on Earth just because you can't be without them. He's got to be thinking of that.

"What we always do," Dean says. And the last time he said that, in this very episode, it meant we do something awful, we throw our own lives away or make some horrible bargain or damn the world in order to bring her back. But this time, it just means that we give her a hunter's funeral. And Sam doesn't look like he was ready for that after all.

So Mary gets a very dramatic pyre, and a montage? Did anyone else get a montage? Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Kevin, Crowley? JOHN? ANYONE? A FREAKING MONTAGE? NO. Grrr. Cas tries to get closer to Dean and Sam puts out a hand and stops him. Also, Sam burns a photo of her and I don't know why.

And finally, we cut to the library table where Sam and Dean carved their initials and we see they are joined by a M.W. Um. What about John? Didn't he get to carve his intials? (NO. Those are only for people who get a montage.)

Also, now that I'm going back to get screencaps, it doesn't look like her intials were there at the beginning of the episode. So she didn't carve them, one of the guys did. And not Dad's? Cold, boys.

You know, last week, like, five or ten minutes before the end of the episode, I thought if Jack hadn't cemented his place in Dean's heart already, he's certainly there now. Because he saved Sam. No matter what else Jack did or is doing or will do, he saved Sam. And I want someone to point that out. I want Sam to say "no, I'm not ready to give up on him, and you realize the only reason I'm here to argue with you is because Jack saved me, right? And if he is soulless, he lost it by saving our asses, right?" (Is this because I watched "Clip Show" a couple of days ago and watched Sam frantically try to soothe Sarah as she died from Crowley's handiwork, and I want Jack to get the same kind of second chance that Crowley got? Maybe.) Now, I realize killing Mary is more awful than anything Crowley (or any other enemy-turned-frenemy) has done to them. But it was an accident. And HE SAVED SAM'S LIFE. Come on. That counts for something.

(Sidebar: We also learned, in that scene back in season 8, that Crowley's mother was a witch. {blows a big wet kiss to the Continuity Fairy})

So, how do I feel about Mary being gone? Here's the deal. This show, at its heart, is about two (or three) men who have a giant bleeding Mary Winchester-sized hole in their lives. Filling that hole does not make for good television. And the Show tried to make her interesting and edgy by playing against what we thought we knew about her (she can't cook! she can't stay away from hunting! she sleeps with both Arthur Ketch and New Bobby!), it tried to make her both a source of conflict and a source of comfort, and ultimately (as far as I'm concerned) it just failed. She was so much more effective as that siren song of the impossible apple pie life. I said earlier and I'll repeat it here... the fact that they had to retcon all of these warm fuzzy flashbacks, instead of using actual clips, just shows how shallow these relationships were. There wasn't anything real to fall back on. And the way they spend these two episodes trying to make us care? It had the opposite effect on me. I'm glad to be shed of her.

But maybe that's just me. Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder. We shall see. Come on and tell me what you think, and remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Ant-Man

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe....

Where Today We End Our Look At Phase 2 By Talking About The First Outing For The Pint Sized Avenger, Ant-Man...

This Film Is About A Recently Released Prisoner Named Scott Lang (Played By Paul Rudd) Who Gets Recruited By A Man Named Hank Pym (Played By Michael Douglas) To Become The New Ant-Man And Help Him Steal A Simiar Suit To That Of Ant-Man That His Protege, Darren Cross (Played By Corey Stoll) Is Making With The Money In His Company, Can Scott Steal The Suit For Hank Before Cross Releases It To The Public?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Ant-Man...

The Film Starts In The Year I Was Born, 1989 As A Young Hank Pym Marches Into The Offices Of The Heads Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Which Includes Peggy Carter (Played By Haley Atwell) Howard Stark (Played By The Guy That Played Him In Iron Man 2, I Don't Know His Name) And Mitchell Carson (Played By Martin Donovan) At The Under Construction Triskellion To Talk With Them About Their Attempt To Replicate His Work Without His Permission...

Despite Peggy Not Knowing Anything About This, Howard And Mitchell Believe That The Pym Particle Is Revolutionary Find And It Belongs To The World And Not Just One Man, This Leads Hank To Resign His Position At S.H.I.E.L.D. And Swear That As Long As He's Alive Nobody Will Get His Pym Particle Formula...

Wow, This Film Could Have Just As Easily Become Ant-Man: The Winter Solider With Howard Stark Just Saying That Line...

But Instead We Cut To Present Day As Scott Lang Gets Out Of Prison And Is Picked Up By His Friend And Partner, Luis (Played By Michael "I'm The Best Part Of This Damn Movie" Pena)

However, Just Because He's Good In These Movies Does Not Mean He Can Replace Ricardo Montellban As Mr. Rourke In Fantasy Island, Blumhouse!

Aside From My Bitterness Over That Movie, Luis Picks Up Scott And Immediately Tells Him About Some People He Met But Not Interested In Doing Another Heist As He's Going Straight For His Daughter, Despite Jobs Not Coming Easy For Ex-Cons...

But Knowing He Has A Masters In Electrical Engineering, He's Like How Hard Could It Be? Turns Out Pretty Hard As The Job He Can Get Is Working At Baskin-Robbins....

Yeah, But It's About To Suck More When The Corporate Heads Of B&R Discover Scott's Criminal Record And Fire Him, Despite His Manager Liking What He Did To Get Thrown In Jail...

Returning To Luis' Apartment, Scott Meets Luis' Friends Kurt And Dave, Who Like What Scott Did As Luis Tells Us That Scott Used To Work For A Company Called Vista That Were Overcharging Their Customers For Millions And He Tried To Tell The Heads Of Vista About This But He Got Fired Instead. So, Scott Hacked Into Their Security System Transferred Back The Funds To The People They Stole It From...

But Not Happy That Luis Is Telling His Life Story To These 2 Guys, Scott Asks What He Wants Which Leads Luis To Tell Him About A Job His Cousin Told Him About But Still Saying He's Out, Luis Drops It...

Meanwhile At Pym Technologies, Hank Pym Arrives To Meet With His Daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Played By Kate From Lost) And His Protege, Darren Cross, Who Makes A Big Announcement That Pym Technologies Is Working A Battlesuit Called The Yellowjacket That Is An All-Purpose Weapon Of War That's Capable Of Altering The Size Of The Wearer For The Ultimate Combat Advantage...

And Despite One Board Member Against It Because Of What Our Enemies Could Do With It, Everyone Seems On Board. Talking With Cross Afterwards, Pym Begs Him Not To Do It Because There's A Reason He Buried These Secrets, But Looking To The Future Of The Company But Not Cross Exits As He Talks With Mitchell Carson About Selling It To Him First...

Going To His Daughter's Birthday Party, Scott Gets An Uncomfortable Welcome From His Ex-Wife (Played By Judy "I'm A Bitch In Everything I'm In" Greer) And Her New Husband (Played By Bobby Cannavale) Who Tell Him To Leave Until He Gets A Job And Can Pay Child Support...

Now, No Offense I Know What Scott Did Was Illegal But In My Opinion What He Did Wasn't Bad Whatsoever, He Stopped A Company That Was Stealing Millions Of Dollars From Alot Of People, Hell, Even The Manager At Baskin-Robbins Called Him A Freaking Hero For What He Did And She Should Know That What He Did Helped Alot Of People...

But No, Instead She's Condemning Him For It And Him A Damn Criminal And For That I Say Screw You, Scott Has Every Right To See His Kid...

Meanwhile At Pym Technologies, Cross Kills The One Board Member That Went Against The Yellowjacket By Using A Gun That Turns Him Into A Miniscule Pile Of Goo...

(Sighs) Yes, Folks This Actually Happens We Have A Gun That Can Turn People Into A Pile Of Goo, What's Next An Alchemy Machine That Can Turn Dog Shit Into Gold?

And Don't Write In The Comments That That Thing Already Exists In Comic Books, I Already Know It Does It's Just The Point Of How Stupid This Is...

Taking Hope Out To Dinner, Her And Cross Talk About How Hank Pym Is A Failure As Both A Father And A Mentor, Before We Cut Back To Scott, Who Decides To Do Luis' Job After Realizing Nothing He Does Will Ever Work Out...

So, Luis Tells Him...

(Start At 0:41, End At 1:54)

So, Getting The Necessary Supplies And Coming With A Plan, They Go To The House, Dealing With The Phones Around The Area And The Alarms In The House They're Breaking Into. But When Scott Reaches The Safe, He Has A Hard Time Breaking Into It...

But With A Little Water And Nitrogen, The Safe Blows Open...

You Bet Your Ass It Rules, Bill Nye...

Going Inside, Scott Finds No Money But He Does Find What He Believes To Be A Motorcycle Suit But Is Really The Ant-Man Suit...

Grabbing The Suit And Getting Out Of What We Realize Is Now Hank Pym's House, They Consider The Heist A Failure And Move On. The Next Morning, Scott Looks At The Suit And The Helmet And Decides To Try It On...

Noticing Buttons On His Hands, Scott Shrinks For The First Time...

(Start At 1:15, End At 3:41)

Freaked Out By What Happened, Scott Returns The Suit To Pym's House Only To Be Arrested By Police, However, While In Jail, He's Visited By Hank Pym Who Says That He's His Lawyer...

Apologizing For Stealing The Suit, Hank Tells Him That He Was The One That Caused Everyone To Give Luis That Tip And That He Has 2 Choices Go To Jail For The Rest Of His Life, Or Wait In His Cell For Further Instructions...

So, Going Back To His Cell, He Waits Until Something Happens Which It Eventually Does When 2 Ants Bring In A Shrunken Ant-Man Suit Only To Make It Large So Scott Can Wear It...

(Start At 0:28, End At 2:41)

Getting Lightheaded, Scott Passes Out...

Waking Up The Next Morning In A Fresh Set Of Clothes, Scott Awakens To See Hope With A Bunch Of Tropical Bullet Ants On The Floor...

Is How A Normal Person Would Probably React...

Saying That Her Father Wants To Talk With Him Downstairs, Scott (When He Stops Being Afraid Of The Ants) Goes Downstairs To Meet With Both Hank And Hope, Who Reveals That She Had Scott Arrested By The Police...

Admitting That He's An Admirer Of Scott's And Really Liking What He Did With Vista Corp And His Vault, Hank Offers Scott A Job To Break Into Pym Technologies, Steal The Yellowjacket And Destroy All The Data After Telling Him About The Pym Particle And Darren Cross And Why It's Important To Stop Him...

Knowing That He's Good But Not That Good, Scott Suggests That They Use Ants Or Call The Avengers To Deal With It But Unfortunately, The Ants Aren't Much Without A Leader And He Doesn't Want The Avengers Involved Because Of Tony Stark And What His Father Did At S.H.I.E.L.D. To Hank Years Ago...

Dropping In On Her Father And Scott, She Tells Them That They Now Have Days As Cross Has Perfected His Formula So Hope Decides That She's Doing It As She Knows The Place Better Than Anybody And She Knows How Cross Thinks But Hank Is Absolutely Against Hope Doing This...

With Scott Asking Why He Doesn't Do This, It's Not Because He's Too Old For This Crap But Because Wearing It Has Taken It's Toll On Him, Thus Scott Is The Only Option Saying That This Is His Chance To Be The Hero His Daughter Thinks He Is...

And So, The Training Begins...

(End At 4:08)

Continuing His Lessons By Introducing Him To The Fire Ants Which He Uses To Get In And Out Of Places And Making Specialized Discs That Make Things Large And Small, Scott Faces One Problem And That's Controlling The Ants...

Running Out Of Patience In Scott's Training, Hope Decides To Leave Only For Scott To Follow Her To Her Car Where She Tells Him That She Only Became Apart Of This For A Chance At Making Peace With Dear Old Dad But She Still Thinks That He Doesn't Trust Her..

(Start At 2:06, End At 2:27)

However, Scott Manages To Convince Hope That Her Father Does Trust Her And The Reason He's Wearing The Suit And Not Her Is Because He's Expendable And Hank Would Rather Lose The Battle With Cross Than Lose Her...

Apologizing For Calling The Police On Him And Asking About His Daughter, Hope Suggests To Focus On Cassie And How Much He Wants To See Her And It Works...

So, Scott Can Now Control The Ants...

Going Back Inside, Hank Finally Opens Up To Both Hope And Scott Telling Them About How His Wife, Janet Who Was His Partner And Hope's Mom Really Died Saying That In 1987 Some Separatists Had Hijacked A Soviet Missile Silo And Launched An ICBM At The United States And The Only Way Into The Internal Mechanics Was Through Solid Titanium...

Damaging His Regulator When Attempting To Shrink Between The Molecules To Disarm The Missile, Janet Sacrificed Herself By Going Subatomic To Disarm The Missile And Save Billions Of Lives...

Saying That He Didn't Tell Her Because He Trying To Protect Her Saying That He Lost Hope's Mom But He Didn't Mean To Lose Her And So With All Forgiven With The Father-Daughter Duo, Training Resumes...

About Getting Everything Down Pat From Jumping Through Keyholes To Working With Ants, The Final Phase Of Scott's Training Commences When Hank And Hope Have Scott Steal A Prototype Signal Decoy To Counteract The Transmission Blockers In Pym Technologies From One Of Howard Stark's Old Storage Facilities Which Just So Happens To Now Be The Avengers Training Ground...

Telling Scott To Abort The Mission, He Tells Them That He Doesn't See Anyone Superpowered On The Ground So Scott Decides To Land On The Roof Only To Run Into The Falcon (Played Again By Anthony Mackie)...

(Start At 0:57, End At 3:31)

Believing That Scott Almost Jeopardized Everything, All Is Forgiven When Scott Gives Hank And Hope The Tech They Want, But Going Out To The Living Room, Hank Finds Darren Cross Waiting To Tell Him That Pym Tech Is About To Become One Of The Most Profitable Operations In The World Because Of The Yellowjacket Suit And He Wants Hank There To See His Moment Of Glory...

As Cross Leaves He Asks Hank What He Saw In Him All Those Years Ago And Why Did He Push Him Away, Hank Says He Saw Himself In Cross, A Little Too Much Of Himself Unfortunately...

Believing That Cross Is Baiting Hank, Hope Suggests Calling It Off But Knowing That There Would Be Risks, Hank Refuses. Getting A Phone Call From Cross Shortly After That, He Tells Hope To Get The Assembly Line Up And Running And States That He's Tripling Security With Full Sensors At All Entrances And Adding Air Vents With Steel Micro-Mesh...

Wondering How They're Going To Get Scott In Now, Scott Suggests Using The Water Vent If They Can Decrease It, But Knowing That Her And Hank Will Be By Cross, Scott Decides To Bring In His Own Team On The Mission, By Making Luis A Security Guard That Will Lower The Water Pressure So Scott Will Be Able To Get In, Having Kurt Hack Into The Power Supply To Kill The Laser Grid And Making Dave The Getaway Guy...

Despite Hank Not Liking This, They're All In As Hope Gets Luis' Credentials In The Pym Tech System. The Next Night, Scott Enters The Sewers Once Luis Is Inside Of Pym Tech. Eventually Lowering The Water Pressure, Scott Manages To Get Into Pym Tech With The Help Of Some Fire Ants To Which He Boards Ant-Thony Afterwards And Takes The Vents...

However When Scott's Ex-Wife's Husband Discovers That Pym Pretended To Be Scott's Lawyer, Him And His Partner Decide To Take Hank Downtown To Question Him, But Before They Can, Dave Steals The Ex-Wife's Husband's Car So Pym Can Enter...

Meanwhile Scott Uses Bullet Ants On A Guard So Luis And Hope Can Enter The Hardware Room To Place The Signal Decoy Inside Of One Of The Server Boxes...

Once Hope Leaves, Scott Moves Into Position To Get The Ants To Fry The Server Boxes So Nothing Can Be Backed Up Before Going To Formula Room To Set Charges To Blow It Up, Only Thing Left Is For Kurt To Shut Down The Security Grid So He Can Grab The Yellowjacket Suit, Which He Manages To Before Him And Dave Are Arrested By Scott's Ex-Wife's Husband...

But As All That Goes Down, Cross Takes Hank And Hope To The Yellowjacket Room Where They Meet With Mitchell Carson Who Is Revealed To Be Working With Hydra Along With Darren...

So, Yeah, When Scott Falls In...

Again Begging Cross Not To Sell To Hydra As If They Get The Weapon, They'll Use It To Spread Their Chaos Across The Globe, Cross Doesn't Care Saying That He'll Sell Them The Suit But Not The Formula...

Telling Carson's Men To Kill Hank, Hope Tries To Convince Cross That The Particle Is Messing With His Brain Chemistry And That It's Not Who He Is But Too Far Gone, Darren Decides To Kill Hank Himself But Not Before Scott Breaks Out And Deals With Carson's Men But It Doesn't Stop Cross From Shooting Hank...

With Cross And Carson Trying To Get Away, Scott Follows Them With Cross' Guards Along The Way While Hope And Hank Escape In A Gigantic Tank Keychain...

(End At 3:33)

Arrested By His Ex Wife's Husband, They Soon Hear Over The Radio Of A Disturbance At The Home Of Scott's Ex-Wife And Daughter...

Yes, It Turns Out Cross Survived Being Zapped By A Bug Zapper And Has Kidnapped Scott's Daughter, Cassie Who Thinks Cross Is A Monster...

(End At 4:34)

But Despite Killing Cross, Scott Went Subatomic But Managing To Find One Big Disc, He Places It Into The Regulator And Becomes Big Once Again, Reuniting With His Daughter...

Letting Scott Go As He Saved Cassie, He Returns To Hank's House Where Hank Asks Him To Explain What He Saw In The Subatomic Realm, But Having No Memory Of The Experience Whatsoever Hank Lets Scott Go So He Can Make Out With Hope As They Start Their Relationship...

Invited Over By His Ex-Wife And Her Husband, They Tell Scott That Any Evidence That He Escaped From Jail Was Somehow Erased So Scott's A Free Guy Now...

But Getting A Call From Luis, He Tells Scott That His Cousin Ignacio Told Him That Some Writer He Met At A Bar Where Stan Lee Is The Bartender...

Stan Lee Cameo!

A Minute There I Thought This Was Going To Be The Only MCU Movie Without A Stan Lee Cameo And (I Know Stan's Dead Now But) I Would Have Loved To See A Show Where Stan Lee Played A Bartender...

Anyway, The Writer Tells Luis' Cousin That Falcon Is Looking For Him, Ending Our Movie...

We Get A Mid-Credits Scene Where Hank Shows Hope An Advanced Prototype Wasp Suit That Both Hank And Janet Worked On Together But Now Hank Realizes That They Weren't Working On It For Janet But For Hope To Someday Follow In Her Mother's Footsteps As The Wasp...

We Get A Preview Of The Next Film, Captain America: Civil War As We See That Cap And Falcon Have Captured Bucky (But None Of That Matters Now As I'm Going To Be Talking About It in The Next Review)

Anyway, That's Ant-Man And It's Okay...

The Story's Interesting And The Characters Are Decently Written However, This Is One Time Where I'll Admit That The Villain Is Okay But Didn't Seem Like A Major Threat Unlike Some Of The Other Films In The MCU But Either Way I Say See It...

Well, With Phase 2 Behind Us Now We Move Onto Phase 3 Next Week With Captain America Civil War, Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...